BUSINESS DECISION MAKING

Business Decision Making

Business Decision Making

Task 1: Burwash Public Library

Question 1 of the questionnaire is a vague question, and respondent may not know what exactly they should answer. Ambiguous questions get vague responses, as respondents may not be able to interpret the question correctly (Sekaran & Bougie, 2009, pp. 270-296). The response of such questions often is a mixed bag of ambiguous responses that do not accurately provide the correct answer to the question. It might also create problems for the researcher to analyze those responses. The situation can be avoided by providing ranging choices.

The choices of question number 2 of the questionnaire are neither mutually exclusive nor collectively exhaustive. The options provided are over-lapping. For example, if a respondent has to answer 5 books as the answer, he can either choose option with the range 0-5, or 5-10. This would make it difficult for the researcher to quantity the results (Saunders, 2003, pp. 298 - 320). In order to make the choices of question number 3 completely exhaustive, another option, “other”, should be added; as it provides the respondent with the complete set of possible choices for answer.

Question 5 is a 'double-barrelled' position, which in most cases would confuse the respondent. A question that leads to different possible responses to its subparts is known as a 'double barrelled' question (Hair, 2007, pp. 180 - 220). Such questions should be avoided, and two or more questions should be asked from respondents instead. The parts quality of library and the attitude of library staff could bring a different level of satisfaction by the respondent; therefore, it is better to ask two separate questions rather than one question. If two questions are combined and there is a double barrelled question for a respondent to respond, it would confuse the respondent and provide ambivalent responses. Hence, this type of question should be avoided in a questionnaire. Secondly, the likert scale in question is not also properly defined. In likert scale, the level of response should be anchored with verbal labels expressing equal gradation of the responses. The scale should be properly defined, as to what does the scale tells about. In this case, either the extreme level of scale can be defined or every number should have a response over it, explaining a particular concept or variable, which will then be summated for every respondent, by the researcher.

Question number 7 uses a dichotomous scale for the response by the respondent. The dichotomous scale is used to elicit a Yes or No answer. To make the answer to the question complete, there should be another option asking for information regarding improvement, in case the respondent thinks there is a room for improvement. The option could be, if yes, please explain or mention.

The language of question number 10 is not proper, it will confuse the respondent, and he or she might not know how and what exactly to respond. The question in its present form would bring ambiguous answers from ...